Leah Pruett, driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
- Earned No.7 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.737 ET at 330.39 mph)
- Maintained No.7 provisional qualifying position based off Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Pruett ran 4.331 ET at 216.90 mph. Q2 was also part of the NHRA’s first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Pruett faced Mike Salinas. Salinas defeated Pruett with a 3.752 ET, 330.55 mph run.
- Secured No. 4 qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.721 ET at 327.66 mph)
- Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session.
- Advanced to Semifinal on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.729 ET at 331.04 mph, defeated Buddy Hull (no time)
- Round 2: 3.725 ET at 333.74 mph, defeated Brittany Force (9.864 ET at 73.42 mph)
- Semifinal: 3.761 ET at 326.79 mph, lost to Shawn Langdon (3.719 ET at 331.85 mph)
- Currently third in the championship standings, 18 points behind Top Fuel leader Steve Torrence.
Matt Hagan, driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (5.101 ET at 145.88 mph)
- Earned No.7 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Saturday (4.078 ET at 270.43 mph). Hagan faced Alexis DeJoria in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where his run was defeated by DeJoria’s 3.980 ET, 308.92 mph run.
- Secured No. 4 qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.934 ET at 325.85 mph)
- Advanced to Round 2 on Sunday:
- Round 1: 4.178 ET at 225.79 mph, defeated Cruz Pedregon (no time)
- Round 2: 4.962 ET at 165.90 mph, lost to Chad Green (3.984 ET at 323.97 mph)
- Currently second in the championship standings, four points behind Funny Car leader Robert Hight.
- For the second consecutive race, Pruett has secured her position in the NHRA’s #2Fast2Tasty Mission NHRA Challenge, where she will face off against Shawn Langdon at Pomona. The semifinalists from Phoenix will rematch during qualifying on Saturday, with bonus money and points on the line as part of the special new program for 2023.
- Pruett has enjoyed more success at Phoenix than any other stop on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour. She closes out the NHRA’s time at Phoenix with a 16-8 record in 10 starts, one No. 1 qualifier and two wins, including her first victory at Phoenix in 2016.
- Pruett defeated Brittany Force in Round 2, which is the third time she’s defeated Force at Phoenix. Pruett’s other victories came in the Final in 2016 and 2017.
- Despite losing to Chad Green in Round 2, Hagan holds a 7-2 overall record against Green.
- Hagan’s name remains in the history books at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park as the track record holder for time at 3.823-seconds, a mark he established in 2022.
Leah Pruett, Driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster
“When you look at the results sheet from the weekend, we did not come home with the Wally win, but there are many wins that we experienced throughout the whole weekend. We were the lowest qualifier in the third session of qualifying, which allowed us to gather points. We went into eliminations in the No. 4 position and we were the low of the second round against hard-hitting cars that were also advancing. It shows our momentum is continuing. When you look at momentum, it is a product of having both magnitude and direction. We have magnitude and we have direction. All last year was finding our direction and now we are moving it forward. The consistent force is what’s going to power us to gain even more momentum. Another semifinal finish gives us four round wins in two races. That puts us back into the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which changes the whole dynamic of a race weekend. You feel like you are racing more than you are qualifying and that’s what we love to do. What I truly love is that is equals the playing field on Saturdays. You are qualifying and you are staging as shallow as possible. You are trying to make your best hit and get qualifying points, but also be competitive and win a round. It is really a solid practice for Sunday. When we ran on Saturday against Salinas, we smoked the tires and we used every single bit of that information to apply it to Sunday. That’s what allowed us to go rounds and make it to the semifinals. Our Dodge Direct Connection car wasn’t as quick as we had set it up to be, so it wasn’t quite as responsive as we would have liked. Because of that, there’s room for improvement. We’re testing on Monday and that circles me back to that consistent force. We’re happy with the weekend. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get that last win at the last pass for Arizona. If we get to come back, we’ll have a ton of redemption. For right now, we are gaining a ton of ground and look forward to Pomona.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“It’s been a pretty tricky weekend out there. The track has been throwing everyone for a loop. We really struggled to get our car tuned-in to get it down the track and get it pulled back enough to do that. It struck the tires both rounds today, so we have some learning to do with a hot, greasy race track and one that’s challenging for everyone. It’s one of those things where we just came off a win and made a couple rounds today, so we’ll keep that momentum moving forward. We’ll go to Pomona next weekend and go down the racetrack.”
Tony Stewart Racing PR
